St. Paul program makes big turnaround

ST. PAUL - For fans of stories about teams going from worst to first, look no further than St. Paul.

The Wildcats went 1–8 in 2015 and pulled a 180 last season, finishing 8–3 and winning the district championship. St. Paul is loaded once again this season with eight starters back on offense and seven more on defense.

One of the keys for the Cats ascent in C2 is their increased dedication to the off season.

"Summer weight room was huge," said head coach Randy Fuller in his fourth season. "They hadn't done a lot in the summer before I got here and so just getting the attendance up there was huge."

It doesn't hurt the Cats having two all–district selections in the backfield; senior quarterback Tanner Wroblewski and fullback Park Klinginsmith, a duo accounting for over 2,500 total yards and 31 TDs in 2016.

"I think getting comfortable with our new system on offense. The option is tough to teach. It usually takes 1 or 2 years to figure out. Once they got comfortable with that, I think that's when we started seeing a little bit improvement."

The defensive line is also stout with their top 3 tacklers putting their hand in the dirt again.

St. Paul downed by Yutan in the C2 quarterfinals of the 2016 playoffs. The quest for back-to-back district titles begins against Wood River on Aug. 25.